06-11-2005, 05:01 AM
FBI missed chances to stop 9/11: report
The FBI missed several opportunities to uncover vital information regarding the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks that could have led agents to two of the hijackers, a Justice Department report says.
"The way the FBI handled these matters was a significant failure that hindered the FBI's chances of being able to detect and prevent the Sept. 11 attacks," Inspector General Glenn Fine reported.
Two months before the attacks, an FBI agent told his superiors that Osama bin Laden was sending students to the United States to study ways to take down U.S. aircraft, the report said.
The FBI also had hard information that future hijackers Nawaf al Hazmi and Khalid al Mihdhar were in the United States, but it conducted an investigation "without much urgency or priority," the report concluded.
The investigation of Mihdhar was given to a single, inexperienced agent, the report said.
The missed opportunities also related to problems with information sharing between the CIA and FBI.
CIA agents had reviewed incoming cables containing a substantial amount of information about Mihdhar, including that he was travelling and that he had a U.S. visa. But the agency never approved giving the information about Mihdhar to the FBI.
The report also criticized the FBI for not knowing about the presence of Hazmi and Mihdhar, who were living openly in San Diego in 2000.
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>
The two men had rented a room in the home of a long-time FBI informant. </span>
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The FBI missed several opportunities to uncover vital information regarding the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks that could have led agents to two of the hijackers, a Justice Department report says.
"The way the FBI handled these matters was a significant failure that hindered the FBI's chances of being able to detect and prevent the Sept. 11 attacks," Inspector General Glenn Fine reported.
Two months before the attacks, an FBI agent told his superiors that Osama bin Laden was sending students to the United States to study ways to take down U.S. aircraft, the report said.
The FBI also had hard information that future hijackers Nawaf al Hazmi and Khalid al Mihdhar were in the United States, but it conducted an investigation "without much urgency or priority," the report concluded.
The investigation of Mihdhar was given to a single, inexperienced agent, the report said.
The missed opportunities also related to problems with information sharing between the CIA and FBI.
CIA agents had reviewed incoming cables containing a substantial amount of information about Mihdhar, including that he was travelling and that he had a U.S. visa. But the agency never approved giving the information about Mihdhar to the FBI.
The report also criticized the FBI for not knowing about the presence of Hazmi and Mihdhar, who were living openly in San Diego in 2000.
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>
The two men had rented a room in the home of a long-time FBI informant. </span>
<!--emo&:blink:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='blink.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:blink:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='blink.gif' /><!--endemo-->